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Chapter 11: Absurd As Her

Behind Ansel, the ceiling collapsed with a thunderous crash, and four assassins clad in leather armor wielding short, curved blades descended from above, their chilling intents revealed amid the settling dust and debris, aiming straight for Ansel\'s cranium!

At this moment, Seraphina, who was ostensibly facing the council hall, had completely anticipated their movements. Unsurprised and without hesitation, she spun around to seize one of the assassins she had knocked unconscious, using him as a projectile and hurling him towards the others in the air!

Yet, these four assassins managed to kick off each other, leveraging their momentum to evade Seraphina\'s human cannonball. They each landed on the corridor walls, pushing off again with force, and from four different directions, they lunged at Ansel.

Once again, Seraphina roughly grabbed Ansel, attempting to shield the young nobleman, who stood half a head taller than her, from the blades aiming for his head. But as she pulled him, Ansel used her momentum to deftly spin around and entered the council hall, bypassing her completely.

Seraphina was left livid, raising her dagger to block the first strike intended for Ansel, even as she roared with fury:

"Have you lost your mind, Hydral?! There are ambushes in there, and archers outside, don\'t cause more trouble for me!"

With her anger reaching its peak, Seraphina twisted her waist and launched a high kick at one of the assassins in mid-air who had no chance to evade. The dull thud of impact and the sharp, concentrated sound of breaking bones echoed, demonstrating the monstrous strength hidden beneath her delicate frame.

The impacted assassin\'s body nearly folded in half! He was blasted off in mid-air and embedded into the wall.

The remaining three assassins were stunned by this attack. Being blasted away like a cannonball and then embedded into the wall, were they facing a formidable warrior or a monstrous beast?

This was simply a f*cking delicate young girl!

"Got time to be lost in thought while you\'re a target in mid-air, do you?"

With a derisive laugh, Seraphina\'s storm of fists and kicks mercilessly descended.

If the three assassins had reacted immediately, she would have been injured despite her best efforts to dodge. But that was only a hypothetical.

When the wielders of weapons lose the "distance" needed to swing their weapons, and when the range is reduced to where fists and feet can reach against a monster like Seraphina with her extraordinary combat instincts and power...

They didn\'t stand a chance for a second strike.

"Hahahaha!"

The young girl\'s snow-white hair danced in the wind as she laughed manically, the continuous sounds of physical collisions mixing with her laughter, creating an eerie, terrifying symphony.

The four assassins were knocked unconscious by Seraphina\'s flurry of blows. She stretched her lithe and boneless waist, her body giving off crackling noises.

"Damn... that\'s exhilarating!"

Exhilaration flowed through the lady guard as she vented her pent-up fury. She then stepped heavily on an assassin\'s head, looking down on him with contempt:

"With skills like these, you\'re not cut out to be an assassin. Go back to your village and slaughter pigs!"

She wasn\'t trying to insult her adversaries, she just naturally looked down on most people weaker than herself.

Such humiliation of the weak was commonplace for Seraphina.

"Hey, Hydral, don\'t mess up—Hydral!"

At this moment, Ansel, who had walked into the council hall alone, seemed oblivious to the housemaid pulling a dagger from under her skirt. He casually leaned on his scepter and walked towards a liquor cabinet. Seeing this, Seraphina let out a horrified scream, throwing her dagger in his direction.

The shattering glass from the liquor cabinet sprayed onto Ansel\'s wolf fur cloak. He looked mildly annoyed as he brushed off the glass shards from the fur around his neck, pulling out an elegant bottle filled with a crimson liquid from the cabinet.

He turned to look at the maid pinned to the wooden grid of the liquor cabinet by her palm, the dagger embedded deep, and asked with a mild smile, "Where are the wine glasses?"

"I really want to break your legs!"

An irritated Seraphina ran over to Ansel, "If you want to throw your life away, don\'t drag me down with you! Don\'t make it look like I got you killed!"

"Oh, Seraphina, perfect timing. Can you help me find where the wine glasses are?"

Ansel held the bottle of crimson liquid close to inspect it, seemingly oblivious to everything that had happened around him.

"..."

The fury that Seraphina had just vented was instantly replenished by Anse. She inhaled deeply, her teeth gritted as she declared, "Can\'t you behave like a normal people and stop causing me trouble?"

"Trouble?"

Ansel arched an eyebrow, turning to look at Seraphina, "Me?"

"If not you, then who–" Seraphina\'s retort was cut short as she knocked out the maid-assassin attempting to attack again, "Who else?"

"...No one is really telling me where the glasses are now." Ansel sighed, "Don\'t cause me trouble, Seraphina."

"You–!"

"Oh, right, Count Stoneheart should know– Count Stoneheart, where did you put the glasses?"

Count Daram Stoneheart, who was standing with other nobles outside the council hall, paused for a moment before replying in a dry voice, "In... in the lower left cabinet."

"Did you hear that, Seraphina?" Ansel, holding the wine bottle, began walking towards the head of the long table in the council hall, "Grab the glasses and come over."

"Why should a guard have to get your wine glass for you!" Seraphina kicked the wine cabinet in frustration, shattering several bottles in the process.

"Oh? Now you remember you\'re a guard?" The young Lord Hydral glanced back at her, "Because you knocked out the maid, you have to do her job."

Seraphina\'s eyes widened, "Maid? Are you out of your mind? She\'s an assassin!"

Ansel, now seated at the head of the table, appeared as leisurely as if he was still at a banquet, leaning back in his chair with his legs crossed, "If I asked her to fetch me a glass, she would have done so. Whether she\'s an assassin or a maid makes no difference to me."

"Also, Seraphina, you\'re too far away from me."

The languid young nobleman suddenly spun his scepter, the solemn black rod transforming into a hand cannon with the pleasant sound of mechanical operation. Without looking, he pulled the trigger towards his upper side.

In the thunderous noise that made even Seraphina flinch, a pair of legs fell from the ceiling that had been blown open.

After the thunderous noise, there was a prolonged silence.

In the silence, Ansel looked at Seraphina until she uncomfortably averted her gaze.

"I can tolerate some of your petulance, Seraphina."

Ansel spoke slowly, the smile he usually wore suddenly gone from his face. The indifference and coldness that seemed to seep from his bones, as if tangible, looked down at Seraphina.

"But disobeying orders is an unforgivable mistake."

With an impassive countenance, he thus pronounced judgment.

Seraphina, under his gaze, instinctively felt a sense of guilt, which swiftly morphed into a catalyst for ire. The night\'s events had already stoked her reluctance to continue in Ansel\'s company. Thus, she took a devil-may-care stance, scoffed, and retorted, "Without me, you\'d have perished ten times over. Unforgivable... dare you ask for my forgiveness?"

"Seraphina."

Ansel sighed, "You have truly been a disappointment. Even though I was prepared for it, I never anticipated you could let me down to such an extent."

"Don\'t you wonder why the archer has ceased his attack, where the remaining assassins have vanished to?"

Seraphina paused, her expression stunned. After detaching herself from the thrill of venting her anger on the assailants and the irritation stirred by Ansel\'s latest provocation, she noticed... the hostility, once burning bright as flame in the snowy night, had completely dissipated.

"Saville never intended to entrust my safety to you," Ansel, rising from his seat, walked directly towards Seraphina, or, more precisely, the liquor cabinet. "Despite my insistence, you remained my protector. But until just moments ago, he had had enough of your absurdity and executed the remaining assassins."

The blond youth dressed in a silvery wolf fur cloak brushed past the snow-haired girl in her plain huntsman\'s attire. He crouched down, opened the cabinet door, fetched a wine glass, and calmly spoke:

"Likewise, you can\'t even handle such a trivial task as fetching me a glass."

Ansel, now standing, poured the exquisite wine into the glass and gently swirled it, not even casting a glance at the girl beside him.

"You may leave, Seraphina," he said with utmost tranquility.

"You may depart from my mansion and return to your village."

Seraphina stood still for several seconds, then an unrestrained joy surfaced on her face.

"Really? Are you serious? You\'re not playing tricks, are you?"

"Hydral never lies," Ansel took a sip of the wine and answered with a light chuckle.

"Well, you should have said this earlier."

Seraphina laughed heartily, hands on hips. "I retract some of my words, Hydral. Compared to the nobles, at least you\'re straightforward when it comes to letting people go."

"Although your performance was disappointing, objectively speaking, you did rid me of a few assassins."

Ansel, with half-closed eyes, savored the lingering aroma of the wine in his mouth, then said after a while, "Tomorrow, Meli will give you and your sister two hundred imperial gold coins. You can pick some things you like in the city and someone will escort you home."

This time, Seraphina was stunned for nearly ten seconds.

"How many gold coins?" After a long silence, she looked at Ansel in disbelief.

"Two hundred."

The snow-haired girl literally jumped on the spot. "You\'re not joking, are you? That what- what- tower scholarship is only a thousand gold coins! So for just beating up a few nobodies tonight I get two hundred gold coins?"

"Hydral—"

"I know, Hydral never lies!"

Seraphina, immensely excited, clapped Ansel\'s shoulder and rubbed her hands together, pacing back and forth. "Hydral, um... my lord! You have many flaws, but when it comes to generosity, there\'s no question!"

After pacing around for a while, she suddenly stopped, glanced at the stunned nobles at the doorway, then back at Ansel, her tone finally conveying a smidge of \'respect\'.

"So, Lord Hydral, may I...leave now?"

The girl eyed Ansel\'s expression, quickly adding, "It\'s not that I dislike your noble company, I just can\'t wait to share this good news with Marlina."

Ansel shrugged. "Suit yourself."

"Ah ha! You do have a capacity for kindness, Lord Hydral!"

The snow-haired girl, overjoyed, sprinted out, her delighted cries echoing down the corridor, leaving the nobles exchanging puzzled glances.

They had no idea what this peculiar master and servant had been discussing, only seeing the snow-haired girl suddenly turn exceedingly cheerful, her attitude completely transformed, praising Lord Hydral effusively.

*

The elegantly attired butler, garbed in a tailcoat, appeared beside Ansel like a wraith.

"Young lord," Saville\'s voice was deep and sonorous, "I disapprove—"

Ansel, savoring his wine, lifted his hand, and Saville fell silent.

Only after finishing his glass did Ansel slowly exhale, "Is the soundproof barrier in order?"

"Do not group me with that impertinent, incompetent girl, young lord," Saville seemed somewhat displeased, a mood seldom revealed before Ansel.

"It appears you harbor great prejudice against her."

"No, it is you who are exceedingly lenient towards her, to an abnormal degree," the old man asserted seriously, "The world is not lacking in geniuses. If you need one who can trace my trajectory, I can find one for you."

"Firstly, Saville, the world indeed is not short of geniuses, but there exist some hopelessly predestined," Ansel squinted and chuckled lightly, "Secondly... I am not so generous."

"But you let her go, even rewarded her, wiping out the punishment."

"...Saville," The young Hydral sighed somewhat apprehensively, "Have you also become obtuse?"

These words left the loyal old butler somewhat flustered. He strived to ponder what he had misconstrued but remained utterly perplexed.

"Ah, but this is not your fault, for you do not understand Seraphina Marlowe."

"..." Saville sighed in relief, "But... do you understand her well?"

"Of course."

Ansel looked out of the window, into the profound blackness of the snowy night, his twin azure eyes seemingly encompassing the darkness.

"No one understands her better than I do," murmured the man who fancied consuming fate.

Saville remained silent. He recognized the peculiarity in Ansel\'s words and knew what questions to ask and what not to, knew how not to betray the trust Ansel inadvertently revealed.

"To prove my point, Saville, help me contact my father."

"...You want to contact dear Lord?" A hint of surprise emerged on Saville\'s face.

"Yes, I need him to make something for me..."

A familiar smile spread across Ansel\'s face, one Saville knew all too well, one that all who were about to face Hydral\'s judgement would see.

The smiling young Hydral said:

"For training a dog."